Program Criteria:How New Jersey is Spending the FundsTotal Stimulus Appropriation(Nationwide): $980,000,000Statewide Appropriation: $26.74 millionNew Jersey Small Cities / CDBG Program Appropriation: $1.945 million for state programs Allocation Method: New Jersey receives its portion based on a federal formulaFederal Agency: U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)

Program Overview

The State administers the Small Cities CDBG Program. This program provides grants and loans for community development activities that benefit persons of low and moderate income, 1 prevent or eliminate slums and blight, and meet urgent community development needs for which no other resources are available. All projects and each activity must meet one of the above objectives. Funds may be used for public facilities, community revitalization, housing rehabilitation and innovative development leveraging private investments.

Federal Requirements and Restrictions

The State shall give priority in the awarding of funds to projects that can award contracts within 120 days from the date the funds are made available.

Program Eligibility

Any county or town that does not receive a direct CSBG from the federal government is eligible to apply through the state. The table that lists the eligible local governments is updated annually and can be found on the program’s website, listed below. The list of eligible activities, evaluation criteria, including the application threshold requirements and the rated criteria that are used to rank applications, can be found in the Final Plan for Administration of the Small Cities CDBG Program also available on the Program’s website.

The HUD Secretary will establish criteria to expedite the use of funds, and recipients of the funding should give priority to projects that can award contracts within 120 days of when funds are made available. HUD may waive certain requirements to expedite the use of funds.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: How will this help New Jersey?A: The stimulus funding will provide needed funding that will help address deterioration and blighted areas in the State and create or sustain jobs.

Q: How much of this funding will be dedicated to the New Jersey Small Cities’ CDBG program?A: It is expected to provide approximately $26.74 million for Community Development in New Jersey statewide. Approximately $1.945 million of this funding is dedicated to the State’s Small Cities CDBG Program.

Q: What is the distribution in funding for the State program?A: The distribution of funding was determined by the US HUD formula established by federal regulations. Larger cities, usually a city with more than a 50,000 population and counties with urban county designation, receive grants directly from US HUD. The NJ Small Cities Program, administered by the New Jersey Department of Community Affairs, will award funding by competitive application process to those towns that do not receive grants directly from US HUD. The Small Cities Program may distribute funding among the funding categories based on demand for assistance and demonstrated by the number of applications received.

Q: How are projects selected for funding?A: Projects will be selected using the criteria established in the final plan from a list of pending applications already received by the New Jersey Department of Community Affairs. This decision was made so that funds could be awarded as quickly as possible in order to achieve the overall goals of the Recovery Act. Applications that meet the basic requirements of the program will be scored based on municipal distress, readiness to proceed, balance ratio (the remaining balance of grant awards received in a funding category over a three year period and including all open grants), and past performance.

1 Low and moderate income is defined in the Small Cities CDBG program as the income of “lower income” families as set forth in the Section 8 Assisted Housing Program of the US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).

2 It is the Department’s discretion to set shorter time frames for recipients and funds not obligated within proscribed time frames will be retracted and reallocated.